No abstract

To determine whether allogeneic bone-marrow transplantation is associated with a graft-versus-leukemia effect, we examined the relation between relapse of leukemia and graft-versus-host disease in 46 recipients of identical-twin (syngeneic) marrow, 117 recipients of HLA-identical-sibling (allogeneic) marrow with no or minimal graft-versus-host disease, and 79 recipients of allogeneic marrow with moderate to severe or chronic disease. The relative relapse rate was 2.5 times less in allogeneic-marrow recipients with graft-versus-host disease than in recipients without it (P less than 0.01). This apparent antileukemic effect was more marked in patients with lymphoblastic than nonlymphoblastic leukemia, and in those who received transplants during relapse rather than during remission, and was most evident during the first 130 days after transplantation. Survival of all patients was comparable since the lesser probability of recurrent leukemia in patients with graft-versus-host disease was offset by a greater probability of other causes of death.

We treated 93 patients who had acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia in the first remission or chronic myelocytic leukemia in the chronic phase (median age, 30 years) with high-dose cyclophosphamide and fractionated total-body irradiation, followed by infusion of marrow from an HLA-identical sibling. To evaluate postgrafting prophylaxis for graft versus host disease, we studied these patients in a sequential, prospective, randomized trial that compared the effect of a combination of methotrexate and cyclosporine (n = 43) with that of cyclosporine alone (n = 50). All patients had evidence of sustained engraftment. A significant reduction in the cumulative incidence of grades II to IV acute graft versus host disease was observed in the patients who received both methotrexate and cyclosporine (33 percent), as compared with those who were given cyclosporine alone (54 percent) (P = 0.014). Seven patients who received cyclosporine alone acquired grade IV acute graft versus host disease, as compared with none who received both methotrexate and cyclosporine. Thirty-five of the 43 patients given both methotrexate and cyclosporine and 31 of the 50 patients given cyclosporine are alive as of this writing, at 4 months to 2 years (median, 15 months); the actuarial survival rates in the two groups at 1.5 years were 80 percent and 55 percent, respectively (P = 0.042). We conclude that the combination of methotrexate and cyclosporine is superior to cyclosporine alone in the prevention of acute graft versus host disease after marrow transplantation for leukemia, and that this therapy may have a beneficial effect on long-term survival.

No abstract

Bone marrow transplantation is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, some of which is due to high-dose chemoradiotherapy. In order to quantitate toxicity that was felt to be due to the preparative regimen (termed regimen-related toxicity [RRT]), a system was developed in which toxicities were graded from 0 (none) to 4 (fatal). One hundred ninety-five patients who underwent marrow transplantation for leukemia were studied retrospectively to determine whether toxicities that were clinically felt to be due to the preparative regimen were influenced by other factors such as disease status, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, and allogenicity. All patients developed grade I toxicity in at least one organ, and 30 developed grades III-IV (life-threatening or fatal) RRT. RRT was more common in relapsed patients v remission patients (P = .04), in those receiving 15.75 Gy total body irradiation (TBI) v 12.0 Gy TBI (P = .028), and in those receiving allogeneic marrow v autologous marrow (P = .0029). Autologous marrow recipients did not develop grades III-IV toxicity in this study. A multivariate analysis controlling for autologous marrow grafting showed that the dose of TBI was the only statistically significant predictor of grades III-IV RRT. Those patients who developed grade III RRT were unlikely to survive 100 days from transplant, though not all deaths could be attributed to RRT. Patients who developed grade II toxicity in three or more organs were more likely to die within 100 days than those developing grade II toxicity in two or less organs (P = .0027). This system was generally able to distinguish RRT from other toxicities observed in marrow recipients.

Abstract. Recombinant G-CSF has been given to over 150 normal donors for the collection of allogeneic or syngeneic peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC). G-CSF was found to be well-tolerated with mild-moderate bone pain, edema and mild thrombocytopenia being the observed side effects. To date, approximately 90 unmodified primary PBSC transplants from HLA-identical related donors have been performed with engraftment that is, in general, considerably more rapid than marrow. Acute graftversus-host-disease (GVHD), grades II-IV occurred in 47% of patients and grades III-IV in 17%. Despite the infusion of one to two logs more T cells, these results are not remarkably different than would be expected with marrow transplantation. There have also been successful reports of using G-CSF mobilized allogeneic PBSC following second transplants for graft rejection or relapse. Allogeneic PBSC have been infused without reconditioning for correction of graft failure and unmodified or CD34 selected PBSC have also been given with marrow to augment the dose of hematopoietic cells. Further studies are needed to define the role of allogeneic PBSC for transplantation, refine PBSC mobilization and collection techniques and to evaluate the long-term effects of cytokines in normal donors.

Marrow transplantation has generally been limited to patients with a sibling who is genotypically identical for HLA. In a study of the acceptable limits of HLA incompatibility, 105 consecutive patients with hematologic cancers who received marrow grafts from haploidentical donors (study group) were compared with 728 similar patients concurrently receiving grafts from HLA genotypically identical siblings (control group). The unshared haplotypes differed variably: 12 were phenotypically but not genotypically identical for HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-D; 63 differed at one locus (A, B, or D); 24 at two loci; and 6 at three. A higher proportion of study patients had delayed engraftment, granulocytopenia, or graft rejection. Acute graft versus host disease occurred earlier and with greater frequency in study patients. The risk of the disease did not correlate with disparity for Class I (A or B) versus Class II (D-region) loci. Thus, incompatibility for HLA has an important effect on the course after clinical marrow transplantation. In spite of these complications, there was no statistically significant difference in the survival of the study patients and control patients who received their transplants during remission.

We analyzed the relevance of HLA compatibility to sustained marrow engraftment in 269 patients with hematologic neoplasms who underwent bone marrow transplantations. Each patient received marrow from a family member who shared one HLA haplotype with the patient but differed to a variable degree for the HLA-A, B, and D antigens of the haplotype not shared. These 269 patients were compared with 930 patients who received marrow from siblings with identical HLA genotypes. All patients were treated with cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation followed by the infusion of unmodified donor marrow cells. The rate of graft failure was 12.3 percent among the recipients of marrow from a donor with only one identical haplotype, as compared with 2.0 percent among recipients of marrow from a sibling with the same HLA genotype (both haplotypes inherited from the same parents) (P less than 0.0001). The incidence of graft failure correlated with the degree of donor HLA incompatibility. Graft failure occurred in 3 of 43 transplants (7 percent) from donors who were phenotypically HLA-matched with their recipient (haplotypes similar, but not inherited from the same parents), in 11 of 121 donors (9 percent) incompatible for one HLA locus, in 18 of 86 (21 percent) incompatible for two loci, and in 1 of 19 (5 percent) incompatible for three loci (P = 0.028). In a multivariate binary logistic regression analysis, independent risk factors associated with graft failure were donor incompatibility for HLA-B and D (relative risk = 2.1; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.7 to 2.5; P = 0.0004) and a positive crossmatch for anti-donor lymphocytotoxic antibody (relative risk = 2.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.8 to 2.8; P = 0.0038). Residual host lymphocytes were detected in 11 of 14 patients with graft failure, suggesting that the mechanism for graft failure could be host-mediated immune rejection. We conclude that donor HLA incompatibility and prior alloimmunization are significant risk factors for graft failure, and that a more effective immunosuppressive regimen than those currently used is needed for consistent achievement of sustained engraftment of marrow transplanted from donors who are not HLA-identical siblings.